


A Dream in Hypotheticals

by coatlicue



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bisexual Veronica Lodge, F/F, Feminism, First Meetings, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Journalist!Betty, Meet-Cute, Superstar!Veronica, beronica, pansexual betty cooper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 09:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11249988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coatlicue/pseuds/coatlicue
Summary: Betty Cooper is a reporter for a tabloid sent to interview superstar Veronica Lodge. When the questions seem disrespectful, she won't stand for it. It ends up working in her favor.





	A Dream in Hypotheticals

When Betty had dreamed about being a journalist, she was mostly envisioning pursuing exposé pieces and discussing the socioeconomic implications of political decisions. Life changing stuff. She grew up idolizing the writer of the Pentagon Papers, and the men and women behind exposing Wall Street in 2010.

But it's 2024, and the people that care about politics don't really want to hire a fresh-out-of-college 23 year old girl to work in their newspapers. Even with the journalism degree that hung above her desk, the only decent job she could score was as a reporter for Young Hollywood, an enterntainment site mainly aimed towards teenagers.

And, okay, it's fine. Lots of people would kill to have the opportunity to be here, and Betty knows that, so she doesn't dare complain. It's a good job, but it's not really where she thought she would be by now.

Betty waltzed into her office, a tiny closet-like space decorated with tiny knicknacks and a computer, and sat down to drink her coffee before the daily briefing. Unknown to her, Kevin, the head of the video department, was right behind her. When he opened the door with a bang, Betty jumped and spilled a little bit of her coffee on her light pink shirt.

 _Oh well_ , she thought, _I guess I'll have to wear my work jacket today._ It was a shame, too, because she hated that thing. It was an itchy dark blue thing that made her look even paler than she already did. But she wasn't one to dwell on that kind of thing.

"Ready for work, Betty-Boop?" Kevin made himself at home and sat in one of the two tiny chairs facing her desk.

"Am I ever not?" Betty rolled her eyes, "I'm just finishing up on writing some of the articles from last week's interviews. I feel kind of weird speculating on stranger's private lives like this."

"Yeah, it can be kind of uncomfortable. But we have to get our paychecks, Bets, and I'm sure when you're chief editor of the New York Times it'll all be worth it."

"It's a long shot," Betty grunted, "It's two minutes to eight, we should probably get in the conference room before Mr. Bossman fires us."

"For a man who wears so many tight and bright-colored pants, Jamie is really so tightly strung."

"Maybe, Kevin, he would hate you less if you hadn't slept with him. Just a thought."

Once in the conference room, Betty tried to look awake as Jamie lectured on about the new assignments that everyone would get in the coming week. It rarely concerned her, as her job was mostly writing up fluff-pieces on whatever the interview team forwarded to her. She was really just waiting to get back to her cube to work on some rough drafts. And then look up videos of tiny hamsters eating tiny burritos.

She felt an elbow jab into her side.

"Sorry, what?"

Jamie slammed his hand on the table, "As I was saying, we have a very important interview today and, since Tina isn't here to give it, Betty will take over."

"What? No, I don't do interviews, I just write the articles. Why can't Jon do it?"

"This is why you need to pay attention, Elizabeth. We will be interviewing Veronica Lodge, and her team very specifically asked for a female interviewer. As a reporter, you are the most qualified."

"I-I can't."

Jamie laughed, "Sure you can, sweetheart, and you will. Look, it's just you two and the cameras, there will be no audience. And we are not passing up the chance to interview Veronica Lodge, not with the way her album has been taking off."

"Okay," Betty swallowed, "Should I start drafting questions or?"

"The questions will be taken care of, all you need to do is show up at the studio in an hour and we'll give them to you. All you have to do is read them. Oh, and stop by Kira's so she can fix up your makeup and change your outfit. The camera does not do any favors for your skin tone."

Betty frowned, "Okay, then."

Kevin made eye contact with her from across the table, mouthing, _He's a hater._

An hour later, and Betty wasn't even sure she looked like herself. Kira had given a hard no to her ponytail, even after Kevin complained about it being her trademark, and had put her in a red dress that flowed to her knees. Betty thought it was pointless, considering that nobody would be watching this interview for her, but it was futile to protest.

"Oh my God, Kevin, what am I supposed to do? You know I'm awful at conversations, I have social anxiety. Who's idea was it to let a girl with social anxiety talk to Veronica Lodge anyway?"

Kevin took both of her hands in his, "Betty, calm down. Look, I'm sure you'll be fine. All you have to do is read the cards that they give you, smile, look pretty, laugh when it's appropriate, and _boom_ , it'll be over before you know it."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I've got this. I can talk and function like a normal human being for twenty minutes. Even if she's really pretty and intimidating and-"

"Here."

"What?" Betty asked, confused.

"She's here."

"What, where?" Betty hid behind Kevin.

"Over there, by the entrance, talking to Jamie. And why are you hiding? Go, introduce yourself. I'll go tell Mark that she's here so he can give you the questions."

Betty took a deep breath and walked slowly over to where Veronica Lodge stood, beautiful as ever, talking to Jamie. Jamie put on a fake smile as soon as he saw her, "Betty!"

Betty had the urge to slap him for his farce when he clearly hated her, but she only smiled, "Hi, Jamie."

Then she turned to Veronica and said, "Hi, uh- I'm Betty Cooper. I'm going to be doing your interview... today."

She mentally facepalmed, cursing her lack of ability to keep her cool around the dark-haired girl, but Veronica only laughed in amusement. "It's nice to meet you, Betty."

At that point Kevin tapped her on the shoulder, "Here are the questions from Mark. And oh-" he pretended to be surprised, "Who do we have here? I'm Kevin Keller, the head of the video department and quite possibly your biggest fan."

Veronica smiled again and extended her hand for a handshake, "Nice to meet you, Kevin."

Just then Jamie yelled, "Alright, everybody, places! Miss Lodge doesn't have much time to waste."

So Betty grabbed the cards and smiled, "Alright, shall we?"

Veronica smiled, "Lead the way."

They sat down facing each other on the couches and waited for their cue. When the camera guy said "Action!" Betty put on her best faux-Cooper smile and said,

"Hello, everyone, I'm Betty Cooper and Young Hollywood is here today with the beautiful and talented singer, Veronica Lodge."

"It's nice to be here," Veronica smiled, clearly experienced enough to know what to say in times like these. That was more than Betty could say for herself.

Betty read off her first card, "Okay um, your new album, _Full Dark_ , has just debuted. How do you feel about the response that you've gotten so far from the fans?"

"It has honestly been amazing, I never expected such a wonderful response from everyone. It's really, really made me happy considering this is my first solo album and it's so personal to me."

"And speaking of your first solo album, how has it been separating from Josie and the Pussycats?"

"You know, I get asked this question a lot and people always expect animosity but there really is none. Josie, Mel, and Val are my family and I am forever greatful for the opportunities that being a Pussycat gave to me. They know that I wanted to pursue my own thing, a different sound, and I think they'll be fine without me."

Betty smiled, reaching for her next card, "In your album, you have a song in Spanish, which surprised a lot of people. Can you talk a little bit about that?"

"Uh - yeah, this is another thing that I've been asked a lot, and I think part of the reason why I did decide to leave Josie and the Pussycats was to explore my roots a little bit in music. I'm Latina, so I grew up listening to salsa and boleros and that's the kind of sound that really inspired me to become a musician. Plus, this album is in many ways a confessional where I explore a lot of myself and that's what makes it so great, I think."

"And speaking of, you've said in several interviews that this album is very personal to you, did you write the songs, did you influence them, how did it work?"

"I didn't write them, but I did help brainstorm themes and ideas with the songwriting crew, namely my close friend, Archie Andrews. I wanted them to be personal. I wanted them to be honest and raw and I couldn't do that if I was telling someone else's story."

Betty's heart thrummed a little harder in her chest. _This woman is a dreamboat. Hot and smart and honest,_ she thought. She forced herself out of her trance and reached for the next card.

"So, you're 26," Betty read, "And you're already becoming this huge star, obviously with all the difficulties that come from being famous, are you afraid that when you settle down, get married and have kids it'll aff- wait, hold up. Cut, or whatever."

Kevin shyly emerged from behind the camera, "Betty?"

"Who wrote these questions?"

"Jamie, he writes all of them," Kevin said.

Betty's head turned sharply to Jamie, "I'm not asking her this."

Jamie looked down at her and smiled, "That's not your decision, Cooper. I'm your boss."

"If it were Reggie Mantle or any other guy here we would never be asking him how he feels about his biological clock winding down and marriage. It's awfully mysoginistic of you to include this question just because Veronica is a girl."

"Cooper," Jamie took a deep breath, "Just ask the questions as they are written. That's your job."

"That's not my job, I'm a reporter. Maybe I'm not working in the New York Times, but I still have integrity. And reducing successful women to baby machines whose greatest achievement is getting married definitely violates that."

Kevin smiled from behind the camera, "You tell him, Betty!"

"Shut up, Keller. Look, both of you: _I_ am in charge here. _I_ write the questions, and _I_  decide who has a say in how we run things. You have a problem with that, the door is wide open."

Betty clenched her hands into fists until she was sure they broke skin. Then she took a deep breath, "Fine. Get yourself a new reporter. I'm out."

Kevin gasped, but Betty was already out the door before she could see anybody else's reactions. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest that she was sure it would split it in two. Her vision blurred so she ran into the bathroom.

 _Holy shit,_ Betty thought, _I just quit my job. I just quit my steady, decent-paying job. What am I going to do? Mom was right, I'm going to be using my degree as a tabletop at this rate. God, what was I thinking?_

Betty's hands clenched harder as she fought the tears that threatened to escape her eyes. She was sure she was bleeding now, but it wasn't a new habit and the wounds usually healed fairly quickly so she didn't try to fight it. She heard the door open behind her, but she didn't turn around for fear that the person would notice the few tears that had already managed to escape her eyes.

"Thank you, Betty." She heard a voice as soft as velvet say behind her. She quickly turned around and unclenched her hands.

"Veronica Lodge I-"

"Just Veronica, please."

"I - okay. Shouldn't you be doing your interview right now?"

Veronica smiled, "Well, I wasn't going to let a mysoginist interview air, was I?"

Betty chuckled through the tears that still threatened to come, "No, no I guess not."

"I've dealt with my fair share of sexist questions, and I've usually had to shut them down myself. This is the first time a reporter has stood up for me. And, well, to do what you did, Betty... that takes guts."

For a moment, seeing the beautiful Veronica had made Betty forget all about what she had just done. That she had just quit her job. But Veronica's words were a brutal reminder to the blonde, who turned to face the bathroom mirror again. She wiped at her eyes with her index finger.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I'm such a mess."

"Hey, no, really. It's okay," Veronica said, walking around to stand next to her.

"I just - I don't know what I'm going to do after this. I need to pay rent and I have student loans and my parents won't pay for anything and -" Betty was flailing her hands wildly, only stopping when Veronica grabbed a hold of her wrist.

Brown eyes glided to Betty's palms, because the girl had momentarily forgotten that the marks were there and hadn't bothered to hide her hands. Betty tried to pull away, but Veronica had a strong grip.

"It's nothing really," Betty pleaded, "Just a nerve thing, or when I get angry. They usually heal really fas-"

Veronica smiled, "You don't have to tell me anything. Just let me help you get them clean."

Betty waited as Veronica grabbed the first aid kit from the studio bathroom and then proceeded to clean the half-moon wounds, stopping only when Betty winced as she disinfected them to say, "Sorry."

When her hands were dressed, Betty looked to Veronica and said, "Thank you for that."

"It's no problem," Veronica's lips curled up with a playful tilt of her head, "And now that that's all taken care of, here's my card."

Betty took the piece of paper from her and furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"

"Look, you stood up for me. So I'm going to help you get another job. I'm only giving you that number because my manager would freak out if I gave you my cell, but call my assistant, okay? I'll tell her to look out for you and we'll meet. I have friends who work at the Huffington Post, and I can try and get you an entry level position. As a thank you."

Betty beamed at Veronica, and she couldn't help but throw her arms around her neck, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Veronica chuckled, clearly amused. "You're welcome."

Betty's eyes sparkled as the smiled tearily at Veronica. The Latina seemed to ponder things for a moment and then she outstreched her hand, "Give me your phone."

"What?" Betty said, but she was already complying.

Veronica typed something into it, "Look, I'm not saying I put my cell phone number in your phone. Really, I'm not, because it would drive my manager crazy. And I'm also not saying that I think you're really cute, because that would drive her even crazier. And I am _definitely_ not saying that you should text me later because I want to take you out on a date. But if I was, would you want to go to dinner with me?"

Betty laughed, "Well, I think in this hypothetical situation I would say, yes, Ronnie, I would love to go to dinner with you."

"Good. Then, hypothetically, you should text fast, because I'm only in town until Sunday and would really like to get to know you."

Betty smirked and tilted her head, "I'm gonna have my hands full with you, aren't I?"

"I think you can handle it."

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has any Beronica prompts they'd like to have filled, please let me know. I love writing for this couple but I'm awful at thinking up ideas!


End file.
